Beowulf Audio Book

Line assignments for Beowulf

Beowulf Podcast Assignment: English 10

This project is a collaborative endeavor involving the entire 10th grade class. You will be responsible for recording and translating ten lines from the epic poem.

There are two components:
1. Record your lines in Garageband.
Save your podcast as: Beowulf Lines X-Y (First Name Last Name)

Excellent example of a clear and accurate reading: click here

2. Paraphrase your Beowulf lines.
Write your lines the way you would say them (using current vernacular) without sacrificing the meaning or organization of the original piece
- provide a line by line paraphrase
-do not summarize write in the third person, past tense, except in quotes
-only use “I” when the original text uses it
-do not turn “Beowulf ran” into “I ran." Save your translation as a word document titled: Translation Lines X-Y (First Name Last Name)

Post both your recording and paraphrase on your Beowulf wiki page - located on the class page.
Block D Semester 1
Block G Semester 1

Beowulf Grading Sheet:

Podcast _ / 15
Clear enunciation and correct pronunciation
1 2 3 4 5
Variations in rate, volume, tone, and voice inflection designed to impact the purpose and message
1 2 3 4 5
Fluent delivery
1 2 3 4 5

Paraphrase _ / 15
Fresh, colorful, precise language that makes a strong and purposeful impact
1 2 3 4 5
Impressive figurative or creative language that evokes clear images
1 2 3 4 5
Correct grammar and usage
1 2 3 4 5



A very brief history of the English language...

Map of Europe
  • English has over 500,000 words
    • numerous sources
    • a result of historical change
  • Indo-European is the original source
    • dating from 5,000 BC
    • from India to Ireland
  • the Celtic people brought a variety of Indo-European to the British Isles
    • Celtic spoken until the 5th century AD
    • displaced by the Anglo-Saxon invaders
  • Anglo-Saxons and Old English
    • spoke a Germanic dialect (also from Indo-European) that is the original source of the English language
    • this is what we call Old English
    • spoken 8th - 12th century
    • slightly different alphabet - guttural sound
    • many English nouns (stone, word, gift, foot) come from Old English
    • the pronoun 'he' and the preposition 'under' come from Old English without any change in spelling
    • Dutch and German also have their origins in what we call Old English
  • Norman invasion - 1066 (moving away from Old English)
    • William the Conqueror from Normandy (northern France)
    • Norman French becomes the language of government and literature
    • many French words are borrowed into English (authority, mayor, crime, army, guard)
    • the French influence did not replace English, but it did cause the shift from Old English to Middle English
  • Middle English
    • the most famous example is Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
    • much closer to modern English (see example on handout)
  • Early Modern English
    • the sound and spelling continued to change into the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries - the period of the Renaissance in Europe
    • renewed interest in ancient Greek and Latin art, learning, and literature
    • the English language absorbed many words from Greek and Latin words - 'democracy' and 'physics' for example
    • the plays of William Shakespeare are written in Early Modern English as is the King James Bible
  • Modern English
    • exists in numerous varieties around the world today
    • What varieties of English do you speak?
    • universities are interested in Standard Academic English (American, British, etc.)



Anglo-Saxon Mini Research Project



One of the literary devices popular in the Anglo-Saxon Old English poetry tradition is the kenning. It is a literary device in which a noun is renamed in a creative way using a compound word or union of two separate words to combine ideas; it's like a metaphor.

Examples of kennings:
  • His war-net woven by cunning of smith.
  • They lay on the sea-bench slain with the sword.
  • The hell-thane shrieking in sore defeat.
  • Were the hardened nails, the heathen's hand-spurs...
  • But the bold one had found that the battle-flasher would bite no longer.
  • As the candle of heaven shines clear from the sky.
  • The foamy necked plunger plowed through the billows...

Can you identify the noun to which each kenning is referring?